Rums of strictly all kinds and origins


August 28, 2022

Rums of strictly all kinds and origins

I think we'll wander throughout the whole planet today.

Wild Tiger 8 yo 'Rare Blend' (40%, OB, India, +/-2021)

Did you know India was the world's largest producer of rum? Same with whisky by the way, as we all know. We've officially tried only two pretty fine Indian rums, Old Monk Supreme (WF 76) and Amrut's Old Port (WF 75). Colour: noses syrupy, molassy and then mostly on bonbons and jams, with obvious notes of a large pack of cinnamon mints and probably roses and hibiscus, as liqueurs. Pretty pleasant, in the style of Don Papa or Bumbu but frankly nicer and less vulgar this far. Nose: Mouth: hectolitres of coffee liqueur suddenly pour into your mouth, together with some grenadine syrup and canned cranberry juice. Notes of raw alcohol behind that, but once again this is not really unpleasant, it would just call for Himalayan amounts of crushed ice. Finish: short and relatively clean. No feeling of distilled garbage this time. Comments: a fun molassy drink, equivalent, if not a little superior to many Spanish-style brands of sweet rum that we have tried almost against our will in the past.
SGP:730 - 72 points.

Speaking of which…

El Pasador de Oro 'XO' (40%, OB, Guatemala, +/-2021)

Said to be 6 to 15 years old Guatemalan rum shipped to Cognac for further finishing, where it'll spend around six months in ex-cognac wood. Not an unseen set-up and the question remains 'why?', the other one being '15 years, really?' Colour: light gold (one gold star!) Nose: some easy, pretty orangey light rum that noses like Cointreau and tastes like… Mouth: triple-sec indeed, curaçao, sugarcane syrup, perhaps raisins too. This one was boosted with some sugary sauces, for sure. Finish: short, sugary. More triple-sec aged in oak, with some vanilla too. Comments: it's okay, but the Indian was funnier. This one too calls for a lot of ice, mainly because of these quasi-lethal amounts of sugar lying inside. I believe that if they ever have to add the carbon footprints to the labels, they'll have to take the energy that's needed to produce ice cubes into account too, as it's virtually undrinkable at room temperature.
SGP:820 - 65 points.

Good, a last funny one before we start to tackle serious rums…

Samai 'Gold Rum' (41%, OB, Cambodia, +/-2021)

Do you hear me, it's from Cambodia! It's from a new small Distillery in Phnom Penh and apparently, this is pretty serious stuff, since you can find it at pretty serious places. What weird logic? Colour: gold. Nose: great smokiness, in the style of those excellent Thai rums such as Chalong Bay and Issan. Shoe polish, fresh rubber, olive oil, a little pine resin, something slightly fermentary, salty fudge, even a drop of Maggi, leek soup, miso… Great surprise here! Mouth: excellent, nothing to do with the sugar bombs that we had tried earlier today, with again a little smokiness, rotting fruits (bananas) and an unexpected combination of aromatic grapes, viognier, sémillon, manseng… It is excellent. Finish: rather long, a notch sweet now, perhaps, otherwise perfectly secondary. Szechuan pepper, coriander, edible flowers (pansies…) Comments: too bad the end was a tad sugary, and I'd love to try this at 46-50% vol., provided that's legal in Cambodia (it was not in Thailand, for example). Anyway, kudos Cambodia!
SGP:652 - 84 points.

Outlaw Rum 'Islay Cask #5' (43%, Outlaw Rum Co., 900 bottles, 2021)

This is more or less the same idea as that of those rums that are finished in cognac casks in France, as Plantation, or indeed El Pasador are doing, except that we're in Scotland this time. And in Scotland, they have.. peat. Colour: gold. Nose: I'm not sure there's much that you can do against peat. Even infinitesimal amounts can 'taint', often for the better, any liquids, as blenders know very well. That's the case here, the peat sings rather loud and clear, even if it's not totally obvious that some heavy, Jamaican-style rums wouldn't have added their takes as well. Burnt papers, charcoal, a little burnt rubber, then embrocations and indeed something medicinal, and only then some lighter rum, cane syrup and all that. Intriguing mix… Also some caraway and fennel seeds, after a good three minutes. Mouth: it's a gentle monster, with rather notes of earthy and sweet roots, carrots, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, gentian, also pumpkin, a little honey, cane syrup… It's a good combo, without any of the dissonances you would have expected. Finish: medium, this time with pink grapefruits that would kind of lift it. Comments: a well-mastered wedding rather than a funeral. Good fun. The lighter strength may be a wee handicap here.
SGP:634 - 82 points.

Beenleigh 8 yo 2013 (52%, Rhum Dieu-Le-Veut, Australia, 320 bottles)

This very unusual baby by new French indie bottler Rhum Dieu-Le-Veut first spent 5 years in bourbon, then 1 year in muscat de Beaumes de Venise from the south of the Rhône valley (a heavy sweet muscat), then two years in sweet Rasteau (a fortified sweet wine, a.k.a. vin doux naturel, from the south of the Rhône valley too). Colour: amber. Nose: the muscat leading the pack, with some muscat indeed, rose petals, litchis, old-school lady's perfumes, Turkish delights, ylang-ylang, liquorice… With water: aquavit and litchis, gin, caraway... Much nicer than it sounds! Mouth (neat): this double-treatment in some of the sweeter wines there is couldn't have left it dry. Mac de gewurz, roses, hibiscus, rambutans… With water: the kind of treatment that works better with rum than with malt whisky. Notes of prickly pears, pomegranates, mandarins... Finish: medium, very floral and fruity. That's right, muscaty. Comments: a spectacularly aromatic preparation, very well mastered because 'on paper', this should have been a wreck (in my own simple world).
SGP:740 - 83 points.

South Pacific Distillery 2001/2022 (55.2%, The Whisky Jury, Fiji, refill barrel, cask #13, 203 bottles)

We've tried an excellent one the other day, by The Rum Cask in Germany. Jamaica in the Pacific! Colour: gold. Nose: olives, anchovies, tar, seawater, new rubber, hand cream, a little 'good' soap. Superb. With water: soap gone, enter liquorice wood and engine grease. And more anchovies. Mouth (neat): textbook Jamaican. I mean, Fijian. Sublime bananas and pineapples, on top of tar, rubber, olives and sardines (perhaps, not too sure about those sardines). Stunning rum in any case. With water: fruity like an early-1960s Laphroaig. Finish: pink grapefruits all over the place, with an admirable salty aftertaste. Comments: Fiji amongst the best of the best. Have we ever heard them brag?
SGP: - 91 points.

Foursquare 16 yo 2005 'MBFS' (57%, Thompson Bros. for The Whisky Exchange, Barbados, refill barrel, 287 bottles)

MBFS means single blend if I'm not mistaken. I'd kill a few politicians to be able to try some pure pot-still Foursquare one day. Colour: gold. Nose: typical, right in the midst of two worlds, both heavy and light, phenolic and floral, primary and tertiary, fresh and fermentary, clean and dirty, cane-y and molassy… I've often found it interesting that they would manage to make a molasses-based rum feel like if it was pure fresh cane juice. That's right, agricole-like. With water: some pencil shavings and a little varnish, other than that, orange squash and cane syrup. Mouth (neat): pure orange-driven goodness. Caramel made with orange juice. With water: sweeter and fresher at the same time. Some soft tobacco, touches of sesame cream, nougat, cane syrup, honey, and of course orange juice. Good, fatter body. Finish: medium, perhaps even more caney. A little toasted oak in the aftertaste, and always these oranges. Comments: bordering perfection. Now, as for those pure pot-still Foursquares, the address would be…
SGP:641 - 89 points.

Caroni 24 yo 1998/2022 (60.1%, Distillia for Catawiki, Chaconia, cask #4, 139 bottles)

More of those excellent super-rare heavy Caronis that, cross my heart, were almost totally extinct fifteen years ago. Preaching shortage hand on heart has always been the most efficient marketing trick. Colour: deep gold. Nose: we're on the spicy and oaky side here, with cloves and cinnamon upfront, walnut stain, hardwood sawdust, then coffee beans and bitter chocolate, then oranges and juniper. Doesn't feel particularly 'heavy' this far, but let's dig deeper… With water: water does it much good and brings out essential oils, especially thyme and eucalyptus. Mouth (neat): loads of pinewood and heavy genever, pipe tobacco, marmalade, and heavy cloves, with even some salt. I mean, a form of saltiness. With water: it loves water better than a whole family of sea calves would. Wee herbs, the expected and anticipated tarriness, liquorice, black olives (trumpets please) and seawater. Finish: oils and plastics, plus salt and citrus. Comments: do not even consider trying this crazy one without H2O, it's even worse than pastis in that respect.
SGP:463 - 88 points.

Caroni 1997/2021 'Le Soleil' (63.8%, Jack Tar, cask #60, 221 bottles)

So this is 'The Sun'. There's also been 'La Lune' (The Moon) which we have tried earlier in July. Colour: amber honey. Nose: it's a softer Caroni, it seems, rather in the style of Foursquare indeed. Having said that there's an obvious petroly and coastal side, with old boats, old tarry ropes, then olive brine, liquorice wood and lozenges. Old woods too, which is lovely in this context. With water: gets savoury and just Japanese. I mean, it's full of sake and miso, and I'd even mention that oak that no one had even heard of ten years ago, the marketers' favourite, mizunara! (mizunara = 30 extra-pounds per bottle). Mouth (neat): oh wow, a fruity one! Extremely punchy but these earthy frozen apples are perfect. Reminds of some Canadian iced apple wine. Quebec, baby! With water: excellent pure tarry Caroni. Extreme as it should be. Concentrated lemon juice and heavy tar. Finish: pretty eternal. Comments: somewhat brutal, but epitomically Caroni. By the way, and I know this will sound totally stupid, but did any friends in Italy ever work on a recipe for some Macaroni al Caroni? Velier? Yeah I doubt anyone's ever dared doing that silly joke de la muerte.
SGP:563 - 90 points.

Let's take the next hovercraft to Guyana…

Uitvlugt 31 yo 1990 (48.4%, Wealth Solutions, The Colours of Rum, No.4, cask #18, 161 bottles)

I've seen somewhere that this baby was 'matured in a Double Wooden Pot Still'. Honestly! Colour: light gold. Aged in Europe. Nose: take an old, early-1980s Clynelish, add fennel seeds, caraway, celery, lime tea and wee bits of yam, and there, you replicated this charmingly fresh old Uitvlugt. Mouth: sublime saltiness, smoked fish, liquorice, tight green lemons (not lime), olives, bitter almonds and just all kinds of clay, then a magnum of bone-dry petroly Alsatian riesling that will send shivers down your spine. Finish: long, salty, oily, lemony, superb. Comments: some sides almost reminded me of clean Highland Park. Okay, say fifty Clynelish and fifty HP. Extremely high class.
SGP:453 - 91 points.

Check the index of all rums we've tasted so far